Federal government will recognize Michigan same-sex marriages

Attorney General Eric Holder announced on Friday that the federal government will recognize any of the same-sex couples who married last Saturday.

Gay marriage was briefly legal on Saturday in Michigan after a federal judge ruled a Michigan gay marriage ban unconstitutional, reports The Wall Street Journal. County clerks had to stop handing out marriage licenses when an appeals court issued a stay on the original ruling.

State Gov. Rick Snyder announced previously that though the marriages are considered legal, they will not be recognized in the state and the couples are not able to get benefits.

According to Fox News, in a statement, the U.S. attorney general countered that the federal government would be doing the opposite.

“These families will be eligible for all federal benefits on the same terms as other same-sex marriages,” Holder said.

He did the same thing when gay marriage was temporarily legal in Utah before the Supreme Court issued a stay of another federal judge’s ruling. Over 1,000 couples managed to get married in Utah, while about 300 were married in Michigan.